Robot Parade

Kiddy Land Cats
Originally uploaded by Nina Pope.

Asimo performs
Originally uploaded by Nina Pope.

Paro
Originally uploaded by Nina Pope.

I saw a surprising number of robots in Japan ... from the Kiddy Land pet/toy/robot cats to the rather jazzy dance steps of Asimo - surely the biggest robot show-off to date. The most interesting was actually Paro the 'mental commit robot' who looks a bit like a grubby seal cuddly toy. Look closely though and his whiskers are sensors, touch him and he'll sort of respond. Compared to the sub-human dance routine that Asimo put on I thought the way that Paro tried to retreat from the hoards of kids casually patting him was rather convincing. I think the idea is that he's used a bit like 'pat cats' to calm people down and provide a friendly response ... As it says on his website (where there are some photos of him looking much brighter) he's the world's most theraputic robot (As certified by the Guiness book of records 2002).